{"article":{"id":"britannica-11-pi","work_id":"britannica-11","title":"Pi","normalized_title":"pi","slug":"pi","aliases":[],"subtitle":"Internet Archive OCR import","body_text":"PI. 10. tt. ttumy. vtyn. I, late IP. tt. tt. A kwl. The pseudo-participle seems, by its inflexion, to have been the perfect of the original Semitic conjugation. The simplest form being that of the 3rd person, it is best arranged like the corresponding tense in Semitic grammars, beginning with that person. There is no trace of the Semitic imperfect in Egyptian. The ordinary ~ ion is formed quite differently. The verbal stem is here by the subject-suffix or substantive — idjn-f, \" he hears \" ; fill, \" the king hears.\" It is varied by the addition of particles. Ac., ft. In, hr, tu>, thus: — <*»-/. \" he hears •*; idm-w-f, \" he is heard \" (pi. idm-U-Sn, \" they •re heard\"); /rfm-ftp-/, \"he is heard\"; i4m-n-f, \"he heard ; »-ttr-f, \"he was heard\"; also, Sdm-ln-f, i&m-hr-f, ifan-k,-f. form has special uses, generally difficult to define, fdm-f seems rather to be imperfect, i&m-n-f perfect, and generally to express the past. Later, lam-/ is ordinarily expressed by periphrases; but by the loss of ft, ittm-n-f became itself sdm-f, which is the ordinary past in demotic. Coptic preserves idjn-f forms of many verbs in its causative (t.g. TAMJJOIJ \" cause him to live,\" from Egyptian dl-t-nk-f), and, in its periphrastic conjugation, the same forms of •ft, ^be,\" and try, ''do.1' With tjm-f (ie&mo-f) was a more emphatic form (eidjomej), at any rate in the weak verbs. The above, with the relative forms mentioned below, are suoposcd by Erman to be derived from the participle, which is placed first for emphasis: thus, (jm-w An, \"hearing is the king\"; idjn-f, for frf«\"-/y. \" hearing be is.\" This Egyptian paraphrase of Semitic is just like the Irish paraphrase of English, \" It is hearing he is.\" The imperative shows no ending in the singular; in the plural it has y, and later to; cf. Semitic imperative. The infinitive is of special importance on account of its being preserved very fully in Coptic. It is generally of masculine form, but feminine in ill. inf. (as in Semitic), and in causativcs of biliterals. There are relative forms of ^m-/and s^m-n-f, respectively tym-vi-j (masc.), f{lm-t-n-f (Tern.), &c. They are used when the relative is the object of the relative sentence, or has any other position than the subject. Thus sdjn-t-f may mean \" she whom he hears,\" \" she whojse praises] he hears,\" she [to] whom he hears (someone speaking],\" ckc. There are close analogies between the function of the relative particles in Egyptian and Semitic; and the Berber languages possess a relative form of the verb. Participles. — These are active and passive, perfect and imperfect, in the old language, but all are replaced by periphrases in Coptic. Verbal Adjectives. — There is a peculiar formation, id_m-ty-fy, \" he who shall hear,\" probably meaning originally \" he is a nearer,\" Wm-/ v being an adjective in v formed from a feminine (0 form of the infinitive, which is occasionally found even in triliteral verbs; the endings are: sing., masc. ty-fy, (em. ty-fy; pi., masc. ty-fn, fern, ty-it. It is found only in Old Egyptian. Particles. — There seems to be no special formation for adverbs, and little use is made of adverbial expressions. Prepositions, simple and compound, are numerous. Some of the commonest simple prepositions are n \" for,\" r \" to,\" m \" in, from,\" frr \" upon.\" A few enclitic conjunctions exist, but they are indefinite in meaning — swt a vague \" but,\" grt a vague \" moreover,\" &c. Coptic presents a remarkable ^contrast to Egyptian in the precision of its periphrastic conjugation. There are two present tenses, an imperfect, two perfects, a pluperfect, a present and a past frequentative, and three futures besides future perfect ; there are also conjunctive and optative forms. The negatives of some of these are expressed by special prefixes. The gradual growth of these new forms can be traced through all the stages of Egyptian. Throughout the history of the language we note an increasing tendency to periphrasis ; but there was no great advance towards precision before demotic. In demotic there are distinguishable a present tense, imperfect, perfect, frequentative, future, future perfect, conjunctive and optative; also present, past and future negatives, &c. The passive was extinct before demotic ; demotic and Coptic express it, clumsily it must be confessed, by an impersonal \" they,\" e.g. \" they bore him \" stands for \" he was born.\" It is worth noting how, in other departments besides the verb, the Egyptian language was far better adapted to practical endsduring and after the period of the Deltaic dynasties (XXII.-XXX.) than ever it was before. It was both simplified and enriched. The inflexions rapidly disappeared and little was left of the distinctions between masculine and feminine, singular, dual and plural-^except in the pronouns. The dual number had been given up entirely at an earlier date. The pronouns, both personal and demonstrative, retained their forms very fully. As prefixes, suffixes and articles, they, together with some auxiliary verbs, provided the principal mechanism of the renovated language. An abundant supply of useful adverbs was gradually accumulated, as well as conjunctions, so far as the functions of the latter were not already performed by the verbal prefixes. These great improvements in the language correspond to great changes in the economic condition of the country; they were the result of active trade and constant intercourse of all classes of Egyptians with foreigners from Europe and Asia. Probably the best stage of Egyptian speech was that which immediately preceded Coptic. Though Coptic is here and there more exactly expressive than the best demotic, it was spoilt by too much Greek, duplicating and too often expelling native expressions that were already adequate for its very simple requirements. Above all, it is clumsily pleonastic.","body_html":"

PI. 10. tt. ttumy. vtyn. I, late IP. tt. tt. A kwl. The pseudo-participle seems, by its inflexion, to have been the perfect of the original Semitic conjugation. The simplest form being that of the 3rd person, it is best arranged like the corresponding tense in Semitic grammars, beginning with that person. There is no trace of the Semitic imperfect in Egyptian. The ordinary ~ ion is formed quite differently. The verbal stem is here by the subject-suffix or substantive — idjn-f, " he hears " ; fill, " the king hears." It is varied by the addition of particles. Ac., ft. In, hr, tu>, thus: — <*»-/. " he hears •*; idm-w-f, " he is heard " (pi. idm-U-Sn, " they •re heard"); /rfm-ftp-/, "he is heard"; i4m-n-f, "he heard ; »-ttr-f, "he was heard"; also, Sdm-ln-f, i&m-hr-f, ifan-k,-f. form has special uses, generally difficult to define, fdm-f seems rather to be imperfect, i&m-n-f perfect, and generally to express the past. Later, lam-/ is ordinarily expressed by periphrases; but by the loss of ft, ittm-n-f became itself sdm-f, which is the ordinary past in demotic. Coptic preserves idjn-f forms of many verbs in its causative (t.g.

\n

TAMJJOIJ " cause him to live," from Egyptian dl-t-nk-f), and, in its periphrastic conjugation, the same forms of •ft, ^be," and try, ''do.1' With tjm-f (ie&mo-f) was a more emphatic form (eidjomej), at any rate in the weak verbs. The above, with the relative forms mentioned below, are suoposcd by Erman to be derived from the participle, which is placed first for emphasis: thus, (jm-w An, "hearing is the king"; idjn-f, for frf«"-/y. " hearing be is." This Egyptian paraphrase of Semitic is just like the Irish paraphrase of English, " It is hearing he is." The imperative shows no ending in the singular; in the plural it has y, and later to; cf. Semitic imperative. The infinitive is of special importance on account of its being preserved very fully in Coptic. It is generally of masculine form, but feminine in ill. inf. (as in Semitic), and in causativcs of biliterals. There are relative forms of ^m-/and s^m-n-f, respectively tym-vi-j (masc.), f{lm-t-n-f (Tern.), &c. They are used when the relative is the object of the relative sentence, or has any other position than the subject. Thus sdjn-t-f may mean " she whom he hears," " she whojse praises] he hears," she [to] whom he hears (someone speaking]," ckc.

\n

There are close analogies between the function of the relative particles in Egyptian and Semitic; and the Berber languages possess a relative form of the verb. Participles. — These are active and passive, perfect and imperfect, in the old language, but all are replaced by periphrases in Coptic. Verbal Adjectives. — There is a peculiar formation, id_m-ty-fy, " he who shall hear," probably meaning originally " he is a nearer," Wm-/ v being an adjective in v formed from a feminine (0 form of the infinitive, which is occasionally found even in triliteral verbs; the endings are: sing., masc. ty-fy, (em. ty-fy; pi., masc. ty-fn, fern, ty-it. It is found only in Old Egyptian. Particles. — There seems to be no special formation for adverbs, and little use is made of adverbial expressions. Prepositions, simple and compound, are numerous. Some of the commonest simple prepositions are n " for," r " to," m " in, from," frr " upon." A few enclitic conjunctions exist, but they are indefinite in meaning — swt a vague " but," grt a vague " moreover," &c. Coptic presents a remarkable ^contrast to Egyptian in the precision of its periphrastic conjugation.

\n

There are two present tenses, an imperfect, two perfects, a pluperfect, a present and a past frequentative, and three futures besides future perfect ; there are also conjunctive and optative forms. The negatives of some of these are expressed by special prefixes. The gradual growth of these new forms can be traced through all the stages of Egyptian. Throughout the history of the language we note an increasing tendency to periphrasis ; but there was no great advance towards precision before demotic. In demotic there are distinguishable a present tense, imperfect, perfect, frequentative, future, future perfect, conjunctive and optative; also present, past and future negatives, &c. The passive was extinct before demotic ; demotic and Coptic express it, clumsily it must be confessed, by an impersonal " they," e.g. " they bore him " stands for " he was born." It is worth noting how, in other departments besides the verb, the Egyptian language was far better adapted to practical endsduring and after the period of the Deltaic dynasties (XXII.-XXX.) than ever it was before. It was both simplified and enriched.

\n

The inflexions rapidly disappeared and little was left of the distinctions between masculine and feminine, singular, dual and plural-^except in the pronouns. The dual number had been given up entirely at an earlier date. The pronouns, both personal and demonstrative, retained their forms very fully. As prefixes, suffixes and articles, they, together with some auxiliary verbs, provided the principal mechanism of the renovated language. An abundant supply of useful adverbs was gradually accumulated, as well as conjunctions, so far as the functions of the latter were not already performed by the verbal prefixes. These great improvements in the language correspond to great changes in the economic condition of the country; they were the result of active trade and constant intercourse of all classes of Egyptians with foreigners from Europe and Asia. Probably the best stage of Egyptian speech was that which immediately preceded Coptic. Though Coptic is here and there more exactly expressive than the best demotic, it was spoilt by too much Greek, duplicating and too often expelling native expressions that were already adequate for its very simple requirements. Above all, it is clumsily pleonastic.

","volume_id":"britannica-11-v9","page_range_label":"Vol. 9, pp. 61-61","source_url":"https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediabrit09chisrich/page/n82/mode/1up","text_source_url":"https://archive.org/download/encyclopaediabrit09chisrich/encyclopaediabrit09chisrich_djvu.txt","scan_source_url":"https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediabrit09chisrich","quality_status":"ocr-imported-page-aligned","parser_version":"ia-djvu-xml-v1","page_refs":[{"page_number":"61","label":"p. 61","image_url":"/source-assets/scans/britannica-11/encyclopaediabrit09chisrich/encyclopaediabrit09chisrich_0083.jpg","source_image_url":"https://archive.org/download/encyclopaediabrit09chisrich/encyclopaediabrit09chisrich_jp2.zip/encyclopaediabrit09chisrich_jp2%2Fencyclopaediabrit09chisrich_0083.jp2&ext=jpg","source_url":"https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediabrit09chisrich/page/n82/mode/1up"}]},"work":{"id":"britannica-11","slug":"britannica-11","title":"Encyclopaedia Britannica","short_title":"Britannica 11th","edition":"11th edition","publisher":"Cambridge University Press","publication_start_year":1910,"publication_end_year":1911,"language":"English","country":"United Kingdom / United States","copyright_status_note":"First published before 1931; treated as public domain in the United States. Verify jurisdiction before redistribution outside the U.S.","source_quality":"mixed-clean-and-ocr","text_source_url":"https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica","scan_source_url":"https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediabri","volumes":[{"id":"britannica-11-v1","volume_number":"1","title":"A to Androphagi","year":1910,"source_url":"https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediabri01chisrich","text_source_url":"https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica","scan_source_url":"https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediabri01chisrich","page_count":1084},{"id":"britannica-11-v2","volume_number":"2","title":"Andros to Austria","year":1910,"source_url":"https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediabri02chisrich","text_source_url":"https://archive.org/download/encyclopaediabri02chisrich/encyclopaediabri02chisrich_djvu.txt","scan_source_url":"https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediabri02chisrich","page_count":null},{"id":"britannica-11-v9","volume_number":"9","title":"Edwardes to Evangelical Association","year":1910,"source_url":"https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediabrit09chisrich","text_source_url":"https://archive.org/download/encyclopaediabrit09chisrich/encyclopaediabrit09chisrich_djvu.txt","scan_source_url":"https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediabrit09chisrich","page_count":null},{"id":"britannica-11-v26","volume_number":"26","title":"Submarine Mines to Tom-Tom","year":1911,"source_url":"https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediabri26chisrich","text_source_url":"https://archive.org/download/encyclopaediabri26chisrich/encyclopaediabri26chisrich_djvu.txt","scan_source_url":"https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediabri26chisrich","page_count":null},{"id":"britannica-11-v27","volume_number":"27","title":"Tonality to Vesuvius","year":1911,"source_url":"https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediabri27chisrich","text_source_url":"https://ia903207.us.archive.org/15/items/encyclopaediabri27chisrich/encyclopaediabri27chisrich_djvu.txt","scan_source_url":"https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediabri27chisrich","page_count":null}]}}